Wells Fargo Clawing Back $75M From Former Execs

Wells Fargo has pinned blame for its fraudulent account scandal on two former executives, moving this week to claw back $75 million in compensation from former chief executive John G. Stumpf, and former head of community banking, Carrie L. Tolstedt. The claw backs are the largest in banking history, and among the largest ever. The bank’s board issued a report this week that blamed Stumpf for turning a blind eye to fraudulent accounts being created. It said that Tolstedt had been myopically focused on sales targets, and had withheld information from her boss and the board. The company has refunded $3.2 million to customers, and fired 5,300 bankers. Stumpf “was by nature an optimistic executive who refused to believe that the sales model was seriously impaired,” the report states.